Biography of Moses

Main focus will be on Moses. He was the greatest prophet, leader, and teacher of Judaism. By focusing on Moses, I’ll incorporate the importance of certain passages that prove the Old Testament; and show how Moses’ role was significant and essential to the Hebrews.

Moses 1400 B.C.E

In a nutshell…

Moses was born in a very difficult time: Pharaoh had ordered that all male children born to Hebrew slaves should be drowned in the river (Exodus. 1:22). Moses’ mother hid him for three months, and when she could no longer hide him, she put him in an ark and placed it on the river where Pharaoh's daughter bathed (Ex. 2:2-3). Pharaoh's daughter found the child and had compassion for him (Exodus. 2:6).

Although Egyptians raised Moses, the compassion he felt toward his people (the Hebrews) was so great that he could not bear to see them beaten by Pharaoh's taskmasters. One day, when Moses was about 40 years old, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, and he was so outraged that he struck and killed the Egyptian (Exodus. 2:11-12). Both the Hebrews and Pharaoh condemned him for this actions, and Moses was forced to flee from Egypt (Ex. 2:14-15).

G-d appeared to Moses and chose him to lead the Hebrews out of Egyptian slavery and to the Promised Land, Israel (Ex. Chs. 3-4). With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses spoke to Pharaoh and triggered the plagues against Egypt (Ex. Chs. 4-12). He then led the people out of Egypt and across the sea to freedom, and brought them to Mount Sinai, where G-d gave the people the Torah; and the people accepted it (Ex. Chs. 12-24).

G-d revealed the entire Torah to Moses. The Torah includes the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) that Moses wrote as G-d instructed him. It also includes all of the remaining prophecies that would later be written down in the remaining books of scripture. Furthermore, it contains the entire Oral Torah the oral tradition for interpreting the Torah, which would later be written down in the Talmud. Moses spent the rest of his life writing the first five books, essentially taking dictation of G-d.

After Moses received instruction from G-d about the Law and how to interpret it, he came back down to the people. There he found the Hebrews idolizing a golden calf.

This is a very significant story in the Bible. It show...

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...nomy. According to some, Moses wrote the last few verses from a vision of the future, but according to others, the last few verses were added by Joshua after Moses’ death.

Moses’ position as leader of Israel was not hereditary. His son, Gershom, did not inherit the leadership of Israel. Moses’ chosen successor was Joshua, son of Nun (Deut. 34:9).

Moses was 120 years old at the time that he died (Deut. 34:7). That lifespan is considered to be ideal, and has become proverbial: one way to wish a person well in Jewish tradition is to say, "May you live to be 120!"

As important as Moses was to the Children of Israel, it is always important to remember that Moses himself was not the deliverer or redeemer of Israel. It was G-d who redeemed Israel, not Moses. Moses was merely G-d's prophet, His spokesman. The traditional text of Passover does not even mention Moses’ name. In order to prevent people from falsely worshipping Moses, his grave was left unmarked (Deut. 34:6).

Bibliography and Resources:

• Fields, Lanny B., Barber, Russell J., Riggs, Cheryl A. The Global Past. Bedford Books, 1998.

• Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004

• The Internet